To make matters worse, Japanese authorities announced on Sunday
that two nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station could
be suffering partial meltdowns. Despite stringent safety protocols, including earthquake
triggers that shutdown the nuclear reactions at the impacted power stations, a
series of cascading failures threatened the cooling systems for several
reactors while an explosion in one of Fukushima’s reactor buildings prompted
concerns about a possible radiation leak. (The Union for Concerned Scientists All Things Nuclear blog provided a continually
updated post on the crisis at Fukushima over the weekend.) On Sunday
evening, The New York Times reported
that the nuclear crisis spread to two more reactors:

Until
late Sunday, the government had declared an emergency at only two nuclear
plants, Daiichi and the nearby Fukushima Daini. Then, the International
Atomic Energy Agency announced that Japan
had added a third to the list because radiation had been detected outside the
plant, which is about 60 miles from Sendai, a city of 1 million people in
Japan’s northeast. The government did not immediately confirm the report from
the I.A.E.A., which said it was not yet clear what caused the release of
radiation. Soon after that announcement, Kyodo News reported that a plant about
75 miles north of Tokyo was having cooling system problems.

Japan’s nuclear crisis has prompted broader
safety concerns here in the United States about nuclear power. Indeed,
there is likely to be renewed discussion about safety standards and the costs
of building new nuclear facilities, which can cost several billion dollars for
one plant. But despite
the headlines that have popped up over the weekend, it’s probably too early
to tell what Japan’s nuclear crisis could mean for U.S. policy. Nevertheless,
it is likely a question that the Obama administration will grapple with in the
coming months given the administration’s support of nuclear power as an
alternative energy source that could help combat climate change by reducing the
nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. In February 2010, the Obama administration
announced that the Department of Energy would grant
conditional loan guarantees for the construction of two new nuclear reactors
in Georgia.

Reports from Japan continue to pour in, and we will do our
best to keep the blog updated with the most pressing news. For continual
coverage of what we’re reading, follow us on Twitter: @clparthemore and @wmrogers.